1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical disk unit for effecting the recording or the reproduction relative to an optical disk.
2. Related Art
In recent years, optical disk units have become more compact and thinner in design, and have increasingly been contained in personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “PC”). Furthermore, the optical disk units have increasingly been contained in small, thin type computers (notebook or lap-top type computers) which can be easily carried. One reason for this is that software used in these computers has been designed to have a large capacity and that inexpensive CR-ROMs (recording media) distributed from magazine media, etc., have extensively been used. Accordingly, at present, it is quite natural to mount a disk unit in the computer.
First, description will be made of the structure of an optical disk unit with an overall height of not larger than 12.7 mm used in notebook PCs and thin-type Desk-top PCs (including a display/body integral type). There are mainly two types which have heretofore been commonly used. One is a drawer type in which the user holds an optical disk in his hand, and sets the optical disk directly on a turntable (which is a constituent part of an optical pickup), and then pushes a tray (including the turntable) into a body of an optical disk unit with his hand, so that the reproduction and recording can be effected relative to the disk. The other type is a so-called slot loading type in which an optical disk is brought to the front side of an optical disk unit, and is inserted into a slit formed in a cover (called a front bezel) provided at the front side of the optical disk unit, and when the disk is inserted into a certain position within the unit, the disk is automatically drawn by a mechanism (including rollers, etc.,) into a position within the disk unit where the disk can be located on a turntable. The drawer type is overwhelmingly predominant in the market, and has occupied most market share.
In some of the drawer type systems, there has been used a U-shaped flexible board for electrically connecting a board (which connects the optical disk unit to the PC) to the tray (see, for example, JP-A-2005-129202 Publication).
JP-A-2001-307460 Publication, JP-A-2003-151199 Publication and JP-A-2005-322349 Publication are also related art of the invention.
At present, most of optical disk units, employed in notebook computers emphasizing the portability, have an overall height of 12.7 mm, and recently an optical disk unit with an overall height of 9.5 mm has been used in thin and lightweight notebook computers further emphasizing the portability. In the future, it is expected that notebook computers will become still thinner and more lightweight in design, and therefore it is thought that the optical disk units will also be required to have a still thinner and more lightweight design.
When thinking of the still thinner design, the thickness and shape natures (such as warp, side runout, etc.) of an optical disk are already determined by the standards of optical disks, and a space or region in which the rotating optical disk will not contact other constituent parts need to be secured as in the conventional systems. Namely, in order to form the whole of the optical disk unit into a thin design, a spindle motor, a pickup module and the body, disposed at the upper and lower sides of the optical disk-rotating region must be thinned.
The thin design and the lightweight design are thus required, and in the type of disk unit as disclosed in JP-A-2005-129202 Publication, a large area for mounting the flexible board has been required to be provided in the body.